Guess why 18 year old Cameron D’Ambrosio is being held on one-million dollars bail and faces twenty years in prison? The answer is “terror charges.” This case is a perfect example of why I am so against using the word “terrorist” in general at this point. Think about all the pointless wars and erosion of domestic civil liberties that have been justified in the name of this never-ending Orwellian “war on terror.” We’ve been tricked, and in the future anyone that does anything the oligarchs and politicians don’t like will be named a “terrorist” and be subject to the aggressive terror laws that most states passed after 9/11. We need to take a giant cultural deep breath and react to terrorism in a sane way before we lose what’s left of our dignity and freedom. Be very suspicious of anyone who uses the word “terror” too often. They are trying to keep you in fear, and if you are in fear, you are easily controlled.

Yesterday, D’Ambrosio was absent from school, but messing around online, changing his profile photos and tweaking his status updates. At approximately 12:20 pm, one of his peers alerted MHS administration that the Methuen native had posted “disturbing verbiage” on Facebook, lyrics menacing enough for the school to call the city police.

“He posted a threat in the form of rap where he mentioned the White House, the Boston Marathon bombing, and said ‘Everybody you will see what I am going to do, kill people,’” Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon paraphrased to the Valley Patriot.

Now, D’Ambrosio is being held on a one-million dollar bail and charged with terroristic threats, a felony punishable for up to 20 years in prison.

It’s unclear what D’Ambrosio wrote exactly, but it’s tough to believe that whatever ill-advised lyrical whimsy he shared justified this response. Even the police are quick to clarify that his verses were vague. “I do want to make clear he did not make a specific threat against the school or any particular individuals but he did threaten to kill a bunch of people and specifically mentioned the Boston Marathon and the White House,” Solomon told the Valley Patriot. ”The threat was disturbing enough for us to act and I think our officers did the right thing.”

Acting is one thing, bringing a hooky-playing high-schooler in for questioning to evaluate the seriousness of the threat is another, obtaining a search warrant for his home is still another. But arresting the kid, setting his bail at one million dollars, and charging him with terroristic threats? Holy shit.

Holy shit is right, and if we don’t grow a pair, stop being afraid of our own shadows, then we may end up being safe…safe like pigs in a pen. We certainly won’t be free.